World Bank Report Raises Concern Over Spread Of Livestock Diseases To Humans
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
The World Bank says diseases in farm animals in developing countries, including those in Asia, are responsible for 75 percent of 175 pathogenic infectious organisms emerging or re-emerging in humans. The Bank, in its 2008 development report, said it was concerned about the rising threat of diseases such as the H5N1 avian influenza virus spreading from livestock to humans. The report said the threat was a special problem in poor nations because farmers tend to share or live in close proximity to their animals. The same people are particularly vulnerable to a spreading infection because vaccinations for them are expensive and difficult to provide in developing countries, the Bank said. (Click here for more